Knockback decreases with distance from the explosion, reaching 0% at the edge of the blast radius.

Knockback also applies to self.

Video

Jump Jet

Ability

Icon

Stats

Official Description

Maximum range

~20 meters vertically

Cooldown

10 seconds

Propelled by her suit’s thrusters, Pharah soars high into the air.

Details

Video

Concussive Blast

Ability

Icon

Stats

Official Description

Type

Linear splash projectile

Damage

Knockback

Projectile speed

50 meters per second

Area of effect

8 meter radius

Cooldown

12 seconds

Headshot

✕

Pharah looses a wrist rocket that knocks back any enemies it strikes.

Details

Also knocks back Pharah herself.

Can be used as an additional mobility tool, as it does not deal self damage.

Mostly deals horizontal knockback.

Video

Barrage

Ultimate Ability

Icon

Stats

Official Description

Type

Rapid fire linear projectile

Damage

40 per rocket

Movement speed

Caster immobilized

Projectile speed

28.5 meters per second

Rate of fire

30 rockets per second

Duration

3 seconds

Headshot

✕

Charge required

1812.5

Pharah directs a continuous salvo of mini-rockets to destroy groups of enemies.

Details

Pharah passively generates 1% Ult Charge every 3.625 seconds.

Pharah remains stationary while the ability is active, but can turn.

Pharah will stay in the air if the ability is used mid-air.

Video

Strategy

Pharah is a hero who possess the skill of aerial-control. Her Rocket Launcher fires a rocket in linear line. The rocket deals heavy damage upon impact and some splash damage nearby which can disrupt the enemy's position. Hover allows her to move upward, making her gain some amount of vertical height. Pharah can use Jump Jet in conjunction with Hover to quickly boost her height to mid-air. Concussive Blast deals no damage, but create a strong knockback that can push both Pharah and the enemy within the blast. Barrage is the most devastating, be able to wipe out all targets within second. However, the rocket is very slow, unable to deal full effect when it can't hit the enemy. Hover stills has a fuel limit, making her fall to ground quickly if she can't combine usage with Jump Jet. Although Pharah can dodge attacks with Hover, she is naturally slow by default, unlike other offense heroes. Her strong aerial capability is well-countered by the heroes who possess hitscan-type weapon, since it's attack has no travel time and be able to hit Pharah with ease.

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Weapons & Abilities

Hover Jets (Passive): Pharah's passive ability. She can slowly propels her upwards when held down the jump button or alt-fire. It doesn't refuel when she is standing on unintended location such as on a roof or sliding floor.

This ability is mainly for maintaining altitude to rain rockets down on the enemy.

Mind the usage on Hover, holding it too long will waste fuel without need. Successive-tapping is recommended to maintain the vertical level.

You can use a surprise attack thanks to her silent mobility when the passive isn't in used. Use unintended location on some map to make yourself sliding from the roof and attack the enemy from behind.

Rocket Launcher: Pharah's primary weapon. Fires high-damage rockets at a relatively slow rate which deals strong damage upon direct hit and lower damage as indirect hit. It also creates a knockback to the enemy and herself which results in self-damage.

When not engaged, her Rocket Launcher can be spammed as area control. She can force the enemy to use another route to get close to your teammates.

The rocket can be used to propel yourself upward in exchange to self-damage. This should only be used when you are running out of fuel on Hover Jets.

Jump Jet: When activated, Pharah will rapidly lift herself upward within a second.

Jump Jet grants her access to routes and platforms other heroes can't reach, giving her a variety of flanking positions. When in danger, it can be used as a quick escape.

Use this ability when you are running out of fuel and when nearly touch the ground since Pharah can refuel midair.

Concussive Blast: When activated, Pharah will fires a wrist rocket that can knocks enemies or herself horizontally backwards, but deals no damage.

Pharah's Concussive Blast can be used to quickly re-position herself horizontally. It can also push the enemy's snipers away from the spot.

This ability has great killing potential when aimed near environmental hazards, easily knocking a group of enemies off at once.

Barrage (Ultimate): Pharah's Ultimate ability. When activated, during the duration of the Ultimate, she fires a high-damage barrage of rockets at the enemy. She can't move or stop the ultimate once active, but it can be used in midair. The rocket from this ability can self-damage her.

It is one of the most devastating ultimates in the game, but leaves her vulnerable to enemy fire. It's most effective when combined with Zarya's Graviton Surge, Reinhardt's Earthshatter, or Mei's Blizzard.

It is best used as close to the enemy as possible, ideally behind them to catch them by surprise. Be careful not to get so close you get hit by friendly fire, however.

General strategies

Pharah's aerial capability is unparalleled, she can stay in mid-air the longest (not counting Mercy using Guardian Angel on Pharah or during Valkyrie). With Hover and Jump Jet, she can reach in a route that other heroes can't even reach with normal movement, and can stay indefinitely in the air. However; she has no way to speed her up in horizontal way; Concussive Blast should be used in emergency situation rather than a main method for mobility.

Avoid fighting on ground. Even though Pharah's Rocket Launcher deals heavy damage upon impact, the enemy can easily dodge her slow rockets when she shoots it as if intending to land a direct hit. If Pharah maintains in mid-air, even if the enemy can dodge a direct hit by her rocket, but the rocket's blast will deal reasonable splash damage depending on the blast range.

Pharah is a good counter to enemies with slow-moving projectiles or short-ranged guns that can't hit her in the air, such as Reaper, Mei, Junkrat, Reinhardt, Lúcio, and Symmetra. So keep them as the first targets to attack before changing the target.

The hitscan-hero is the direct threat to Pharah. The attack from hitscan-weapon has no travel time; with good aiming, they can kite her mid-air before she even has a chance to find a cover on ground. Only target them in closer-range where the rocket can reach to the target faster and give them little time to escape.

Don't underestimate the heroes who possess projectile-type weapons. While her Hover will give you an easier time to dodge most shots mid-air, the enemy can still attack you with some good shot placement. Fast-speed projectiles can counter Pharah well, so avoid moving in a predictable way and she can handle them well.

Pharah can use her Rocket Launcher to propel herself upwards, preserving Jump Jet, or for when it is on cooldown. This will cause you to take some damage depending on the range between you and the surface.

Due to her aerial capability and Rocket Launcher which is useful when fires on the ground, Pharah usually stay midair alone with no protection or healing which leaves her vulnerable from the enemy attacks. Try to fly in the area that you can escape in time with the use of Concussive Blast or in the area that your teammate can help you from the ground.

Practice is a key factor to improving with all heroes, especially Pharah. Training yourself to hit predictive rockets and airshots consistently will make you a force to be reckoned with, and even more useful to your team. With enough experience, you can predict the movements of your foes, and well placed rockets will take them down quickly and with ease.

Story

"I Will Protect The Innocent."

With a strong sense of justice,[1] Fareeha Amari's commitment to duty runs in her blood. She comes from a long line of highly decorated soldiers and burns with the desire to serve with honor.[2] A serious[1] but altruistic individual, Pharah seeks to make the world a better place, and bring order out of chaos.[3] She loves the feeling of entering the unknown, and has a udjat tatoo, bearing the Eye of Horus.[4] Every action she undertakes comes from "a deep place" within her spirit.[1]

Childhood

Fareeha and her mother

Initially, Fareeha had a good relationship with her mother, who taught her martial arts. As a child, she grew up in the company of Overwatch;[5] she dreamed of following in her mother's footsteps and joining the organization.[2] She spent her life training, doing everything she could to ensure that one day, she could join Overwatch herself.[1] However, her mother was against it.[5] This led to a strained relationship between mother and daughter.[6] At some point, Fareeha asked for a toy rifle, but Ana refused, telling her daughter that she'd shoot her eye out. Her mother later came to regret her comments.[7]

After her mother was apparently killed in action, she got her udjat, to honor her memory. Her mother had borne a similar tattoo, and told her it was a symbol of protection. At the time, Fareeha had assumed that it meant that her mother would always protect her.[4]

Soldier

Fareeha enlisted in the Egyptian Army. Her dogged persistence and tactical prowess caused her to rise up through the officer ranks. She was a courageous leader and earned the loyalty of all who served under her. With her exemplary record, Fareeha was well placed to join the ranks of Overwatch, but before she had that opportunity, Overwatch was disbanded.

After leaving the army with a commendation for distinguished service, she was offered employment with Helix Security International, a private security firm contracted to defend the artificial intelligence research facility beneath the Giza Plateau. The top-secret facility was touted as vital to the safety of not only the region but countries across the globe. Fareeha gladly accepted the choice assignment and received training in the Raptora Mark VI, an experimental combat suit designed for rapid mobility and devastating firepower.

Pharah within the skies

Under the call sign "Pharah," she worked to safeguard the AI installation. Though she mourned Overwatch's passing, she still dreamed of fighting the good fight and making a difference on a global scale.[2] She was assigned to a strike team under the command of Captain Khalil, with the rank of lieutenant.[4]

Mission Statement

“

I was afraid that someday I'd have to make this decision. Which is more important...the man...or the mission?

„

~ Pharah

Pharah and her squad

When the Anubis AI broke free of containment, Pharah's team was sent in to neutralize the AI. They found a wounded member of the engineers that had been sent ahead, revealing that Anubis had taken control of the sentry bots assigned to the site. Pharah ordered that they move on, despite the protests of Saleh that the engineer needed medical attention. Pharah stated that the mission was more important than any of their lives, given what was at stake if Anubis breached HSI's firewalls. Khalil conceeded the point, but pointed out that Pharah needed to work on her attitude, that the squad was her "family." The team came under attack by security bots, and in the ensuing firefight, Khalil was killed. Per the chain of command, Pharah took command of the squad. Pharah ordered the squad to push on. Anubis had attacked their "family," echoing Khalil's words. The squad entered the temple, and engaged in combat with the security bots. The ordnance caused a pillar to collapse, threatening to crush Tariq. She saved him, much to his confusion—didn't the mission come first? She dismissed the question, and she and her squad held the line while Tariq hacked Anubis's systems. He was wounded, but Anubis was shut down, and the squad exfiltrated the site. As Tariq was loaded into the squad's APC, he told her that Pharah was her captain now, and that he'd always follow her. Pharah reflected on her udjat, and that she'd misunderstood what her mother had told her all those years ago. It did not mean that she was protected, but rather, she was the protector.[4]

Reflections

Pharah at Christmas

At Christmas,[8] Pharah visited Canada in order to spend the evening eating dinner with her father.[9]

Achievements

Name

Icon

Description

Reward

Clearing The Area

Knock an enemy to their death using Pharah's Concussive Blast in Quick or Competitive play.

Pixel

Death From Above

Kill 4 enemies with a single use of Barrage as Pharah in Quick or Competitive play.

Pharah's design, which includes the Egyptian Eye of Horus symbol around one eye and armour reminiscent of a falcon, is a reference to the ancient Egyptian falcon-god Horus, god of the sky and protector of the pharaoh.

A giant action figure of Pharah was displayed in Busan as part of a pre-release promotion for Overwatch.[11]

Pharah's father's First Nation tribe is known by the developers. They may reveal it at a later date.[13]

Development

Concept art

Pharah's design stems from a playable class in the cancelled Project Titan. In the original pitch for the game that would become Overwatch, she appeared as a jetpack-equipped class called Phoenix, which used a rocket launcher and an ability that called down napalm; in a later pitch, Phoenix was reinvisioned as a hero concept with a flamethrower and explosives, while the jetpack and rocket launcher were moved to a new hero that would eventually become Pharah.[14] The design of Pharah was "bottom-up"; where developers start with gameplay mechanics, and later build a character around them.[15] Her original design was done by Geoff Goodman. It was a simple concept of a male hero with a jetpack, simply named "Rocket Dude." Another one of the original concepts was done by Justin Thavirat. More iterations were went through.[3] Her official codename was Rocket Queen.[16] Early in development she was also briefly given the name Mercy; Mercy was named Angelica at the time.[17]

Inspiration for her was taken from the Tribes series.[15] She was one of the first characters implemented in the game, coming in at around the same time of Tracer, Reaper, and Widowmaker (the first three heroes implemented).[16]

Tools

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